A little depressed about situation

[Katiana]

I wouldn't take advice from anyone who doesn't live there, and seems not to have ever. However, the preponderance of advice seems to be to take the job. Of course, if you posted over on the Denver forum you would get different advice. $70K isn't all that much even in Denver. It's a difficult decision.

[roguehawfans]

It's not so bad up here, move on up and get a place and go to school like was mentioned..It's not as expensive here as people make it out to be...Gotta figure out the ropes....Peace

[jwb123]

I would check out cities like Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mount Lake Terrace or Lynnwood just North of Seattle a little more affordable and the schools are pretty good as well.

ha, yeah that's a big no on this comment... Shoreline, ok -but the rest?? NOT family friendly, not safe for kids, not clean... BAD schools...

however, perfect if you have low standards... and if you need to make it on 70k, with kids.... you will need to lower standards.

[bellabella2]

Well you are great with kids...right? 10 years of it...
Why not thinking of opening a pre-school readiness program or something along those lines?
Get a place that will allow you to set up something for it and you will make more money on that than working retail. Just my opinion. I paid over 500 dollars a month for my child to attend a program while I did an internship.. and that was part time!!

I also saw this site once published on the Seattle times...
Executive Domestic | Household Manager
I am not sure how well it pays but maybe you could be great at it..... Who knows?

Good luck in your move...

[addcore]

First of all, you can do much better than retail. There are entry level positions in Bellevue/Seattle area with starting salaries of $40,000 - $60,000 (again, I mentioned entry level). With a little experience your husband can easily bring in $80,000 - $100,000.

I was making $60,000 in California (which is more expensive) and my first job here paid me $80,000. Within a couple of years I was making well over $100,000. No degree, not a lot of experience. Just a great resume, super interviewing techniques, and great prospecting.

I can guide you in the right direction. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Paul Anderson
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Originally Posted by Nea1

We live in Denver colorado, I LOVE it completely. A little background, Iwas born and raised in Portland oregon. Situation here now is, my husband cannot find a job that pays enough to live. He is in construction. I have been a stay at home mom for 10 years so the biggest job I will get is retail. Well an old buddy just offered him a great job in Washington, around Seattle paying 70000 a year. Which is more than he is getting offered here. We dont want to lose our rears here in the winter and we are tempted to take the job, although our kids will be upset. I am at a loss, I havent been to the PNW in 6 years and never lived in Washington. can we make it on that and where would we live that has good schools and family feel? thanks so much for any advice.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by addcore

First of all, you can do much better than retail. There are entry level positions in Bellevue/Seattle area with starting salaries of $40,000 - $60,000 (again, I mentioned entry level). With a little experience your husband can easily bring in $80,000 - $100,000.

I was making $60,000 in California (which is more expensive) and my first job here paid me $80,000. Within a couple of years I was making well over $100,000. No degree, not a lot of experience. Just a great resume, super interviewing techniques, and great prospecting.

I can guide you in the right direction. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Paul Anderson
Moderator cut: advertisement

This is not how it is going to go for most people here, especially without a degree. $40 - $60K entry level?? Right...

[bellabella2]

Addcore
yeah right....
Maybe you confused Seattle with Fairytopia. I hear you can make it the re too..

[addcore]

With these belief systems you're never going to get a high-paying job. Talk to someone that has been there done that. There are hundreds of entry-level positions in the Seattle area that pay 40 to 60K. Examples are fraud analysts, contract project coordinators, junior business analysts. This list goes on and on...

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by Nea1

We live in Denver colorado, I LOVE it completely. A little background, Iwas born and raised in Portland oregon. Situation here now is, my husband cannot find a job that pays enough to live. He is in construction. I have been a stay at home mom for 10 years so the biggest job I will get is retail. Well an old buddy just offered him a great job in Washington, around Seattle paying 70000 a year. Which is more than he is getting offered here. We dont want to lose our rears here in the winter and we are tempted to take the job, although our kids will be upset. I am at a loss, I havent been to the PNW in 6 years and never lived in Washington. can we make it on that and where would we live that has good schools and family feel? thanks so much for any advice.

Don't do it. Don't put the kids through that - you will see that houses are overpriced here. So it gas and food. So in reality, he would not be making more money.

Seattle is always gloomy, grey skies 10 out of 12 months. Read our other Seattle posts. Consider all the expenses that are higher than normal here and you will see. After all, its now how much you make its how much you spend.


Unless you don't want a house, the here is a breakdown for you:

70,000 a year = assume close to $5000 a month after taxes

$5,000
- $1600 average apartment rent for 3 bedrooms (reasonably close to Seattle and in a safe area)
- $ 300 electricity & water monthly
- $ 125 usual phone, internet & tv packages - monthly
- $ 700 groceries (more or less depending on how many kids) - monthly
- $ 150 for cell phone plan with 2 phones at least
- $ 175 car insurance for 2 cars
- $ 250 gasoline - monthly for 2 cars
- $ 200 lunches at work & school & misc

Roughly $3,500 in expenses monthy to live in your average Seattle apartment.

You are left with possibly $1,500 to save. This is OK assuming you don't have to pay for Daycare, car payments or something else like school loans. That is where things get hard.


The end result: This could be a gamble for you - especially when the time comes to buy a house. (If you guys did not have any kids then it would be no worries)